Skava
by Regicidal Dwarf
Summary: A Mary Sue trying not to be one. Actually, I really like it, but that's just my opinion. Rating is mainly for safety. Read the ANs please. If you read it at all O.o
1. Chapter 1

As my mind is continuously thinking, I have thought of a new story idea. This is a Mary Sue that is attempting not to be one, but is probably failing miserably. Besides, this is really more for my own enjoyment than for anything else. I realize that Mary Sue's are more fun to write than to read, so if people don't review, I won't be too offended. Just, no flaming. They only either go into my fireplace or into a really nasty A/N, so don't bother.

Disclaimer: The only thing I own in this story is my original character, and even that isn't entirely original because I'm sure other people have done something incredibly similar.

"Talking." 'Thinking'. Not too difficult. Besides, isn't it some sort of standard by now and we don't really have to be pointing it out? Ah well, I guess not.

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Skava 

Chapter 1: Sunny and snowy pursuit

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Yusuke was bored. He lounged on the roof of his school, once again cutting class, soaking up the sun and hoping Keiko wouldn't find him. Nothing new of any interest had presented itself, although a particular gust of wind that morning and a certain female skirt had brought a moment's laugh. Yusuke grinned, remembering how loud that girl had shrieked. What was her name? Ah, it didn't matter. Anyway, he had no cases, his teacher's were as tyrannical as ever and no new thugs had presented themselves to be pounded into the ground. It all added up to one inevitable fact. Yusuke was bored.

Suddenly a shout pierced his boredom induced stupor.

"YUSUKE URAMESHI!!"

'Oh crap,' he thought. 'Keiko. Why does she always have to find me? Does she have a radar pinned on me or something?' (A/N: HOW DID HE KNOW?!)

"YUSUKE! Why weren't you in class?! You missed the entire first half of the day, you know. I mean, how long can someone keep up this lazy, slacker attitude? You have a future to worry about, and if you don't do something about now, you'll be stuck in school forever!!" (A/N: Is he in high school or middle school? I can't remember!) Yusuke, however, was not really paying attention. As Keiko continued to rant on about the importance of school and getting good grades, Yusuke's mind had taken a turn down the tune-out-and-concentrate-on-how-nice-the-sun-feels-after-such-a-long-winter road. His eyes began to shut as if they had a will of their own, and he slowly drifted off.

"And this year- OH I DON'T BELIEVE THIS! HOW CAN YOU BE ASLEEP?!"

She raced through the forest, slightly pointed ears tuned for any sound of danger. They were coming, she could feel them. The snow crunched beneath her feet as she continued to sprint through the trees of what would have been- in any other situation- a very beautiful forest. Suddenly, she stopped. Breath misting as she panted, she spun around, scanning the clearing for the enemy. Her hand strayed to the hilt of her katana, loosening it slightly so it could be drawn quickly when required. Then, a footstep in the snow caught her senses. They were behind her, and slowly moving in, hoping to catch her unawares and ambush her. She grinned, despite the situation.

'Foolish demons,' she thought. 'They just don't know me very well. I guess I'll have to teach them a lesson' She pretended she hadn't heard them, and continued to scan the trees, as if she still searched. However, every one of her five senses- and even a little of a sixth- were trained on the three hunters that sought to capture her.

'Why does everyone want this stupid bounty anyways? I mean, it's not like it's going to do all that much anyways.' Then she remembered how much the people in charge of that sort of thing had added to it after her recent thieving bout. 'Oh yeah. There is the fact that it will make whoever gets it filthy rich. But surely they must realize that I have this price for a reason. Oh, crap, here they come.' Suddenly, her pursuers gave up on surprise and leapt at once. She whipped around, sword drawn, then bent her knees into a half crouch, head up, staring would be death in the face. All three of her thug pursuers where demons, and not very high level ones at that, but they came flying towards her at an alarming rate. However, an instant before their swords cut through her skin, she vanished. All three demons crashed into the snow with a loud THUD before rolling several feet, bruising themselves not a little bit in the process. As they climbed to their feet, bewildered, they saw nothing but a thin line of tracks leading out of the clearing and heard nothing but a thin, piping laughter carrying over the breeze.

"Damn it," one of them growled. "How can she run so fast?"

"And how can she laugh?" Another continued.

"That bounty isn't for nothing," entered the last. "Maybe we should give her up."

"Don't be stupid. Whoever gets that bounty will live in luxury for the rest of his days, and I intend that person to be ME!" With this, he got up and stalked off, crying back, "Come on, we're going after her." The two still on the ground grumbled for awhile, but succumbed to their leader's wishes and got up, stamping after him.

He perched on a tree branch, red eyes fixed on the now empty clearing. As a slight breeze picked up, his black cloak picked up and began to swirl. However, the wind was hardly enough to move the mass of black hair that appeared to be held up using wood glue. (A/N: WELL IT DOES!) He pondered over what he'd just seen. Clearly the girl had talent. Her fluid movement and speed were clear indicators of that. Still he wondered. Had she been forced to use it, how good was she with that sword she carried? He wondered, and was interested enough to pick up the trail and follow it. Just as an experiment.

Again, she ran. 'Man, don't they ever get tired of this? It's just the same old thing, run and run and run and oh wait they caught up but run and run and run…Why can't they take a hint?!" Again she found herself forced to dodge blades as her attackers tried once again to bring her down. 'I mean, you got to give these guys points for persistency, but when do they draw the line?! They've definitely crossed mine!' As she rambled in her mind, she failed to notice that the attackers now had a helper. 'Oh crap! There's one more!' As the blade sliced down, she instantly had her own up and blocking the silver would-be death instrument of her would-be executioner. Her demon 'friend' bore down with all his strength, and with his height, weight, and position advantage, she could feel her knees giving way.

'Oh crap oh crap oh crap…' finally, she broke off, hit the ground, and rolled, barely missing being sliced in half. Quickly, she rose up into a half crouch, facing her attacker, sword drawn and out. As he turned to face her, she slowly rose up onto her feet for mobility and all around common sense. However, she'd forgotten the other members in her little pursuit squad. As she was sizing up her opponent (large, overbearing, not horrible with a sword but not spectacular), she quickly found herself dodging and parrying to at least three blades as all her other attackers began (A/N: well, what'd you expect?) attacking her at once.

Hiei watched from a nearby tree. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the skill of that girl. She moved fluidly and quickly, almost as well as himself. Her sword seemed a part of her, like she was born carrying one. Such an ease was only found through years and years of practice. He wondered how old this demon girl was. Demons age differently, there was no way of telling. She could be centuries old for all anyone knew. He almost found himself wondering who would win in a fight between them, but caught himself. He would never fight her, so there would be no reason to ponder on the outcome of a fictional battle. He remembered his purpose for being in this ice world in the first place. Yukina had not contacted the Rekei Tantei in quite a while, and he was sent to make sure she was okay. The reasoning was that he would go anyway, why not make it legal? With a cold disinterest he noticed that the girl-with-no-name had managed to slice all of her attackers cleanly through.

She stood and sheathed her sword, said a quick prayer to the souls of the recently departed, then began to walk away, just a little bit down-hearted.

'Damn,' she thought. 'I ended up killing them anyway. Why did they have to be stupid and chase me? I mean, they were crooks, it's really not my fault, but I still don't like it.' However, before she reached the edge of the slight clearing, she heard a twig snap as a body softly hit the ground. She whipped around, long silver hair flowing behind her, to stare at the place where the noise had come from.

'Damn it!' thought the flame demon angrily. 'I let myself get sloppy once, and look what happens. Damn it all to hell!' He looked up from his kneel and saw that the girl (whatever her name was) had responded to his slight noise incredibly quickly. She was poised in a half crouch, hand resting on her blade (already loosened to make drawing of it much quicker) as her eyes scanned the area, looking for the hiding one.

As he froze, hoping she couldn't see him, he couldn't help but notice her looks. Her long silver hair shown in the sun, and her eyes were a curious gray-blue with a hint of silver. She was dressed in a slightly more movable version of a kimono, long sleeves and pants with a drape covering her upper body (I'm lazy, think of young Genkai). Her pants and sleeves were white, while the drape was of a dark, royal blue. Her slightly pointed ears were twitching, trying to find her follower by catching the tell-tale signs of heavy breathing or any movement. She was rather tall, but thin, and her feet were encased in thin slippers. Her eyes shown of an alertness and intelligence, but not of fear. She also seemed to give off an aura of good humor, like most of the world was one big joke. He almost snorted in amusement, reminded of the Wind Master, Jin. However, at the moment she looked deadly serious. In any other demon's (or humans) mind, she could be taken as beautiful, but he was not interested in such matters. He was only wary, ready to fight her if she so desired.

She looked through, eyes piercing the trees, still searching fruitlessly for her opponent. However, she realized that if they had waited this long to attack, they might never. Without moving from her fighting stance, she decided to try peace.

"Show yourself!" she demanded, realizing that no self-serving demon would do so. "I wish you no harm if you wish the same for me. However, if you do not speak, I shall have to consider you a threat and I will not hesitate to attack. Speak now, or will find you. I doubt you would live." 'Hopefully that did it,' she thought to herself, 'I don't want another battle.'

"Hn," said a voice to the side of her, voice dripping with scorn, "I seriously doubt you could not defeat me if I so wished to fight you. However, rest easy. I am merely a traveler and am not interested in you." As the voice finished, a small black clad demon stepped through the bushes ringing the clearing.

She couldn't help but stare a little. He was so small! However, that was no indication of skill, as she well knew. Her master, one of the only people that she knew of that could defeat her in a fair fight, was well under 5'5". Her eyes took in his black hair (how the hell did he get it to stand up like that?!), red eyes, and cloak, while not failing to notice the crease that a blade was making while concealed under the cloth. He was dressed all in black, and had an odd white bandana wrapped around his forehead. He gazed at her steadily, eyes narrowed in obvious disinterest and scorn. However, he did not have a look of one that was lying, and he had said that he did not want to fight her. She straightened from her fighting stance and loosened her grip on the hilt of her sword.

"I am Skava," she said, bowing formally. (If anyone has a problem with her not having a Japanese name, go to hell. I named her that because I think it's a cool name.) "Who are you?"

His eyes narrowed a little bit, then replied.

"Hiei." He felt no need to bow, but inclined his head just a little.

She nodded, "Hiei. You wish me no harm?"

"Hn," He gave his over-used response, then nodded.

"Then I am done here." She turned and walked steadily away, not looking back.

A/N: First chapter done! Wow, that was longer than I thought it would be. Ah well, tell me what you think of it! Although yes, I did say that I did not require reviews, they are appreciated. Especially because I actually think my story is pretty good. Bah, whatever, no one reads this anyway. By the way, incase anyone is interested, I am going to list her strengths/abilities now:

Speed.

Skill with a sword.

She has wings, but they look like moth wings and can not really fly, just glide. I did not mention them because they are hidden beneath her clothes, she doesn't use them unless she has too and they can fold up really small. Nifty, huh? They will eventually come into play, but not yet.

A sixth sense that comes in handy in later chapters/stories.

Very good senses (sight, hearing, etc.)

Just a note. This story is already finished. I will probably be posting a weekly or bi-weekly rate. However, just because it is finished doesn't mean it's fully edited. If I take a long time to post a chapter it's either because I'm lazy and forgot or I'm still editing it. I can only hope people actually read this.


	2. Chapter 2

Kuwabara will not be in the fic, mainly because I don't like him. He is studying in America as part of an exchange student program. And don't try to convince me otherwise, I just really don't like him and am not putting him in my story.

About reviews/reviewers: Reviews are asked for/enjoyed. However, reviews that simply say things like, "Hey! Great story!", while they do boost my ego, don't really tell me anything. In my opinion, nothing is perfect, so I'm always looking for ways to improve. This brings me to my next point. Criticism. Constructive criticism is accepted and welcomed. But simply saying something like, "This story sucks," also is completely ineffective. If you don't like the story, tell me _why._ Because then I can actually do something about it. This notice will only be posted once.

"Talking" 'Thinking' .:Telepathic communication:.

AAAAA - Change in time/place etc.

About language: They are speaking Japanese. Later on this will change, but that will be noted when it comes up.

Disclaimer: You know what goes here. I own no characters in this story except Skava. She is mine. You may not use her. If I find that you have stolen my character, I will hunt you down in the night and eat your babies. Enjoy!

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_Skava_

Chapter two: What? A case?

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"What? Really?!… Yes! Finally!" Yusuke's joyous shouts could be heard from, as it seemed to Kurama, miles away. He tried to calm the excited teenager down, but to no avail.

"Aww, man, this is so cool! Man, the toddler finally comes through! We get a case! Yes!"

"Yusuke, please! Calm down! People are staring!"

"Huh? Oh….What are you looking at?!" he demanded of the group of spectators as they suddenly decided that nearby trees were incredibly fascinating and hurried off to meet people they saw in the distance.

"All right… that's one way of getting rid of them. At any rate, we are to meet Koenma at 5:00 this evening to receive details and before then, could you please try and contact Hiei and Kuwabara? I haven't been able to find them to tell them anything yet."

"Wow fox, you're getting slow. Kuwabara's in America, remember? He left two days ago."

"Oh, no. I forgot. I've just been so busy with testing, other things are slipping my mind."

"And that's why I don't go to class! No wasted brain power that way."

"Yusuke, you don't go to class because you are too lazy and you know it." The black haired teenager in question shrugged disdainfully.

"Eh, to each their own. At any rate, I'll just be glad to have something to do that doesn't involve running from Keiko." The red head chuckled derisively.

"And we all know how much that happens." At that moment the bell rang.

"I have to go now, but remember! 5:00!" he turned to see if his companion had heard, and was rewarded by a lazy hand wave in his direction.

'Oh well, that will have to do.' At that moment he felt a mental tug. 'Hmm? Who's there?'

.:Kurama:.

.:Of course. Hello Hiei. What is it?:.

.:You have news for me?:.

.:Why yes, I do. Koenma has given us a new case. We are to meet him at 5:00 and he will give us the details:.

.:Understood:.

.:So, you'll be there then?:.

.:Who said anything about being there? I just said understood:. At that, the link was broken and Kurama found that he was in front of the classroom door. He sighed.

'Why is he so difficult? Hopefully he'll decide to be there anyway, but why couldn't he just say that in the first place? It's so annoying.' He entered the classroom and sat down, trying to pay attention as the teacher went over the homework that he had, as usual, gotten 100 on.

AAAAA

Hey, what do you know? It's 5:00.

AAAAA

Koenma watched in agitation as the group in front of him finally settled down. Kurama was, of course, passively leaning on the doorframe, awaiting instruction, but Yusuke was in a fit of hyper bubbly-ness, that did not allow him to settle. Ah, there, finally, he was seated. Kuwabara wouldn't be on this mission, he was too far away in America. And where was Hiei? Ah well, he might as well begin; the little sociopath was probably hiding in some corner, listening to every word.

"All right, now you two know that you've been given a new mission, you just don't know who/what it is. Is that correct?" Both team members nodded. "All right, well meet you're new target." So saying, he brought a picture up on the screen.

Kurama raised an eyebrow, the female shown before him looked no older than 16, though with demons there was no way to tell. Her silver hair was pulled back, and she gazed with her oddly silver eyes at whatever camera had taken this shot with a level stare, her mouth quirked into a small smile. She looked like she was daring them to catch her, if they could.

Yusuke just stared. Man, she was pretty! She had an air of humor about her, like the very idea of them going after her was laughable. She looked daring, as if wanting and ready for them to find her. It was compelling.

"This is your new case. So far no one even knows her name, but she's a thief, and an incredibly good one. With a few more decades or centuries of practice, she may be equal in skill to our old friend Yoko. However, at the moment, she is still a little more inexperienced than is necessary to be truly supreme. And I don't intend for her to get any more practice then she already has. I want you to find her, and I want her brought back alive or dead, whatever seems appropriate to you. She has a massive bounty on her head, which gives her plenty of pursuers, but nothing seems to help. She has not been caught no matter how many people we send after her.

"That is why we need you, all of you, to find her and bring her back. And I need to get the amulet back, because it is very valuable and very powerful. I don't know if she's figured out how to use it yet or not, but we need it back as soon as possible, if not sooner. Unfortunately, the only link on where she might be right now is in the Ice world, and that's not much to go on. Apparently she's after some artifact that will make her even more impossible to catch, though I didn't think that was possible. We don't know what it does, but we have a hint on where is it. I'll be giving you the coordinates to the particular mountain that we think it may be residing in, but other than that, you're on your own. That is all for now, I hope you succeed."

AAAAAA

Kurama walked through the halls of the Spirit world castle, lost in thought. That girl, for some reason she looked oddly enchanting. He was not interested in her in any way romantic, but she somehow caught his interest. He wanted to find her; he wanted to talk to her. He was so lost in thought; he failed to notice the familiar signal from behind him.

"Fox."

He jerked. 'What?'

"Ah. Hiei. I should have known. You were here all along I suppose?"

"Hn."

"How much do you know?"

"More than you."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"Hn."

"Hiei…"

"All right. Her name is Skava, and she is indeed in the Ice world. Happy?"

"How do you know this?"

"I watched her fight on my way to see Yukina."

"You did, did you… This could be helpful. We will need you to help us gain an advantage if you already know her style. Can you tell me now, what is her preferred weapon?"

"Sword."

"Hmm. And I would imagine that she was skilled with it to survive this long. How would you compare her to yourself, skill wise?"

Hiei shrugged. "I didn't get to watch her truly fight with it, hard to say. From watching her move I can say that I would at least have a fairly hard time defeating her."

"Ah. Do you have any idea how old she is?"

Hiei shook his head. "No. My guess is as good as yours Fox."

"Well, it was something at least. We start as soon as possible, so meet tonight at the park."

"…"

"Please Hiei? We need your help on this mission."

"Hn... All right fox, I'll do it."

"Thank you. We meet in three hours."

A/N: This chapter would really have been posted earlier, I meant to do it last weekend, but someone ACTUALLY BOTHERED to report a story that has been up on my site for maybe a year now, so I got banned from posting for awhile. The problem? It was in "script format." Why they bothered to report it, I don't know. Not really mad at them, just don't really get what the big deal was. The administrators deleted the story, which is okay, because I didn't like it anyway. I still don't think it was worth reporting.

Review responses:

Naoko Asakura 009: Thanks for your response!

Lobs-StAcEy-Ters: Yes, there are a few Mary-Sues that I enjoy reading. Basically, the OC has to be really cool, by my standards (which are sometimes a little odd.) Thanks for the review.

me: You don't have to read it if you don't like the storyline.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, about time they actually got to the case, don't you think? Eh, maybe, maybe not. Don't worry; they do start it in this chapter. But as a little heads up, the case will not last very long. And no, Skava will not end up getting together with Kurama. Or Hiei. Or Yusuke, for that matter. In this story, anyway. There will be no romance in my stories except one which was written expressly for that purpose. Leave me alone about it.

Disclaimer: Basic stuff here

AAAAA – Change of time/place and whatnot.

"Talking", 'Thinking', .:Telepathic communication:.

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Skava 

Chapter three: The Case begins

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Kurama surveyed the group in front of him. Yusuke looked excited, and Hiei, well…Hiei looked like Hiei. All of them were in their own little world as they prepared to travel to the ice world.

"Well… It's now or never. You ready to do this?" inquired Yusuke.

"Indeed. I think I am as ready as I will ever be."

"Hn."

"Thanks Hiei." The Jaganshi raised an eyebrow.

"You're welcome."

"All right, well, let's start this."

"Agreed." So saying, the trio positioned themselves into a triangle and put they're hands up, palms facing in. Concentrating on their spirit energy, their combined power began to inch open a portal that would lead them to their destination. Finally, it was wide enough for them to pass, and they all stepped through the portal, and into the ice world.

AAAAA

Yusuke gasped as he hit the snow with a soft _thud_. It was cold! He quickly stood up and brushed himself off, instantly glad that he'd worn a think jacket over his white shirt, and long jeans. However, he could tell his sneakers would soon be soaked through, and wished he had boots. However, he used his spirit energy to warm himself from the inside and soon put the cold out of his mind. He looked around to check on his companions and found them on their feet, looking around at their surroundings.

"So, is this the mountain? Where's the temple?" Yusuke asked. Kurama began to laugh.

"What, you thought it would be that easy? The artifact is located at the top of that mountain," he replied, pointing up.

Yusuke stared at the rising slope for a while, then responded with the only thing that sounded appropriate.

"….Oh shit."

AAAAA

"Oh Kami, how much longer are we going to be climbing for again?" asked the desperate teenager as he gripped rocks and tree trunks in his constant struggle NOT to land on his ass in the snow, in his ever upward climb.

"Hmm… well, depending on the distance left and our recent pace… about ten or twelve hours. Give or take a few. Most likely give." Kurama also was not having the best of times. In fact, as he said this, his feet slipped from under him and he slid down a few feet.

"Ah, and it is ever so. Gain 5 feet and lose 3. This will be awhile. Perhaps we should stop."

"Hiei isn't having much trouble." Indeed, the small fire demon was simply "disappearing" and reappearing every few feet, perched neatly on outcropping rocks.

"True. Hiei!" The demon stopped, and turned around.

"Can you come back here? We are discussing resting for awhile."

"Fox, I don't need to rest. We need to catch this damned thief and I'm not stopping until we do." Kurama raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this is rare. Hiei showing initiative. All right, we will continue. But we are stopping for the night in an hour or so, or else we will all be exhausted and in no shape to fight this Skava."

"Skava? Is that her name? Hey, how did you know that?" As Kurama filled in the boy on Hiei's sighting, the demon waited impatiently.

"And so that's what we know. Shall we continue for now?" Yusuke groaned.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mention that. All right, let's move while we still have daylight." So saying, they all began to, once again, climb upwards.

AAAAA

"Oh man, didn't the toddler check the damned weather channel?! Why'd he send us out here in a blizzard?!"

"Yusuke, Koenma would have no way of knowing that a storm was coming, and even if he did, I find it unlikely that he would waste time having us wait it out. At least we got a head start. And I also find it unlikely that Skava will be able to climb in this weather as well, so we're not losing any time."

"Yes, but we also have no way of knowing how long ago she started climbing, she could be almost at the top by now."

"I find that unlikely. Koenma sent us as soon as possible, and she would have to be careful. There are unfriendly demons around, and she has a massive bounty, unlike us."

"Oh yeah, there's just that little fact that every demon in both the Ningenkai and the Makai wants our heads." Kurama shrugged.

"Be that as it may, they have been wary of taking us since the Dark Tournament, and we don't have a bounty. Skava does, and it's large enough to make most demons forget about us." Yusuke really had no reply. He looked around their shoddily-made shelter. Composed of mostly dead branches, they'd managed to build a rough lean-to that kept out most of the wind. They'd even managed to get a small fire started, mostly using spirit energy and some twigs. All three of them were sitting in the ground that had been cleared of snow, knees draw up to their chest.

AAAAA

Meanwhile, the demon being pursued was not having a much better time of things. She too had been forced to take shelter beneath the trees, although 'beneath the trees' meant only 'below the canopy of leaves and above the ground'. Perched on a thick branch, Skava thought about the three that were climbing the slope behind here. She did not know who they were, she had detected the signal of three powerful demons behind her and had run immediately, but she thought she knew why they were here. They did not have the cool iciness of the Koorime, and that meant they were probably bounty hunters. She shuddered, and not entirely because of the cold. She was using her energy to warm herself, but she couldn't waste too much of it. She had a long night ahead of her, and she had no way of knowing how long the storm would last. Then, she spotted something that looked like a blessing. Could it be? Yes! It was! She jumped down onto the snow covered ground and scurried over to the burrow, the opening of which was barely poking out of the snow. She sniffed it and, after discerning that it was indeed abandoned, climbed in.

The temperature change was what she noticed the most, along with the lack of wind. It was a little small, so she used a limited amount of energy to scrape some dirt out, then decided to live with it, and curled up on the ground. Once comfortable, she once again allowed herself to think of her possible pursuers. They were strong, unusually so. These were not the normal bounty hunters, and she knew she would have to be a lot more cautious if she didn't want these next few days to be her last. Probably she would have to be a lot faster too, she was amazed at the rate they could climb. If she slowed down too much, they would catch her before she could even get to the temple. It was not a pleasant thought, but it was the last she had before she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

A/N: Nothing really to put here. It's the end of a chapter. Oo

Review Responses:

Ookami Aya: O.o Wow, three years is a long time. I've been a member for a little over a year and a half. I figured that the only way to avoid being completely flamed about having a Mary Sue was to just come out and say that it was. For all that it is a Mary Sue, I still like the story.

Naoko Asakura 009: Funny that you would ask that, the author's note that explains that has been at the beginning of this chapter since it was written…No. No there will not.


	4. Chapter 4

Yes, I know I'm really late with this chapter. And I apologize (sort of.) I'm just really, really, lazy and let the days slip by.

AAAAA – Change of time/place and whatnot.

"Talking", 'Thinking', .:Telepathic communication:.

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_Skava_

Chapter four: And up, and up, and up…

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Skava awoke to the beginnings of a morning peeking through the lip of the burrow she had taken refuge in the night before. The transformation that the land had taken was amazing. Sun glared off a fresh blanket of pure white snow, glittering like diamonds in the light.

'Wait… was it really only last night? Oh no, my internal clock still isn't set to this world. I have no idea what day it is! I have to get moving!' She scramble out of her shelter and, blinking in the sunlight, began to leap up the slope.

'How did I let myself sleep that long! Why didn't I wake up immediately after the blizzard stopped? Why, why, WHY?!?!' cursing herself and running at the same time, she checked her surroundings, and was slightly surprised to find her three pursuers closer behind her than she would have thought.

'Well, are least they are still behind me. But I still have to hurry. I can't stop, or they will catch me.' So saying (A/N: Well, really, thinking, but let's not quibble) she raised her speed and became merely a blur, dodging behind trees and hopping over rocks.

AAAAA

"Ok, so how much longer NOW?"

"Yusuke. Three hours ago you were told 10 to 12 hours. Do the math." Yusuke responded with his only (not exactly) clever comeback.

"Hey Hiei, meet my little friend. He's called the middle finger." Hiei did not respond, preferring to shake his head at the nerve of youth and the idiocy of a certain black haired teenager. They climbed on silently for a while longer…

"Ok, how much time NOW?"

"YUSUKE!"

AAAAA

Onward and onward she ran.

'Crap, they really are catching up to me. How are they doing this? Do they know where I am? They are quicker than they have any right to be.' Suddenly, she felt something at her back twitch.

'Oh no, is it really that serious? All right, all right, I'll use them.' So thinking, she felt the back of her shirt rip as wings burst through to shine in the sun. Made to look like moth wings, they flapped a few times, lifting her only slightly off the ground. She began to run faster, using her wings like a glider, keeping her above ground longer and prolonging her strides. To her great relief, she felt the distance between the three behind her and she grow longer. Still, she adjusted her course to take herself out of their path and ran on.

AAAAA

"Yusuke, let me make you a deal. Refrain from asking that imbecile question for the rest of the climb and I will refrain from sharpening my sword on your throat."

"But this is boring! And hard!"

"Well, I don't care if you are roasting in the eternal fires of hell, ask one more time and I will drag you out of it and just as you are about to breath a sigh of relief, I will throw you back in just to listen to you scream!"

"Ok boys, let's stop the arguing please. This will not help our pursuit for Skava, it will only slow us down. Yusuke, I will ask you to please stop pestering us with constant questions. They are aggravating. I will tell you when an hour has gone by, AND how much longer it is likely to take. Will that do?" Yusuke pouted in mid jump over a fallen branch.

"But no one's talking except me! If I stop talking… then no one will be talking!" (A/N: He's a smart one…)

"Just deduced that, eh Detective?"

"Shut up Hiei."

AAAAA

Skava still ran. She ran over rocks, ducked under branches (remember, they're still in a forest) and occasionally found her foot crashing through a thin layer of snow with a soft and muffled _thud_. When this happened it was usually accompanied by a muffled curse and a hurried scramble to dislodge her foot from the snow. Then she would rise and be bounding off again.

Suddenly, she felt her self flying as a rock that she had not seen rose to exactly the right height, tripping her perfectly. She hit the snow and rolled, her wings snapping back into her back to prevent damage, leaving two small holes in her shirt located up between her shoulder blades where they had originated. Had any one gotten close enough to look closely, they would notice two discolored knobs where they were stored. She raised herself with a soft moan and shook herself off, reminiscent of a dog. She ran a quick hand through her silvery hair and sighed.

'You know, I'm actually kind of glad those things are gone. I know they help me with speed, but I still hate to use them. Oh well, better get going. Lord knows how much longer I have until they start to encroach on me again.'

AAAAA

Amazingly…Yusuke was silent. Hiei was reveling in the silence, while Kurama was reveling in that his bargaining had actually gotten through the Toushin. Yusuke had agreed to keep his mouth shut until someone talked to him, which Kurama promised to faithfully do every hour. Kurama was, indeed, beginning to feel a little more optimistic about the entire climb. They were moving at much faster pace now the Yusuke wasn't pestering them, causing Hiei to threaten bodily harm, causing both of them to start arguing like children, causing delays, and Kurama's own foot hadn't sunken into hidden pockets of snow for at least 15 minutes. However, he had no real idea of where they were on the mountain, nor even how high up the temple was that they had to guard and, eventually, attempt to protect from the thief, as well as capture. Then he began to think about that.

'How high exactly IS this temple? And where exactly are we? I've felt a general upward shift and a gradual depletion in oxygen level, which means a rise in elevation, but exactly where are we? The clouds have been covering the top of this mountain since the beginning and now that we are in the trees it will be even harder to see, even if the trees do come to sudden and unlikely stop.' Sudden his sense of plant life stopped as he stepped out of the line of trees into a completely bare strip of snow that lasted for the good part of a mile before starting up again.

'Well, that would solve the tree problem…' Also, as though a huge fan had started, the fog and clouds that obscured their goal began to shred and fade away, leaving them with a clear view of exactly how much higher they had to climb.

"…Oh shit."

Kurama couldn't agree more.

AAAAA

Skava paused in her run as she felt her mind extra sense twitch. Looking up through the trees, she thought she could see the cloud cover on the top of the mountain beginning to shred away, but it was hard to tell. She shrugged, and continued to run. Distance wasn't really an issue in her mind; she had no problem with endurance runs, although the elevation might start to get to her. Really her only concern was time, and that not very much. However, if she wanted to use this gem as soon as possible, it had to be during the dark moon and that was three days away. She wanted to be off the mountain and out of the ice world long before then. That meant she had to run, and keep running. She could not allow herself to stop and rest. Her internal clock had adjusted itself accordingly and could feel the seconds tick by. She continued on.

AAAAA

"Oh damn it, Kurama! I thought this would take hours, but that! That will take DAYS!!! I hate this! All for some stupid girl thief that happened to steal one of Koenma's stupid pendants and now we're hiking up some damned CLIFF and it's going to take days and she might already be GONE!! THIS IS STUPID!!!"

"Yusuke, please refrain from shouting, it will not help the situation and my ears are hurting." Incredibly, the teenager quieted, preferring to sulk in silence.

"Thank you. Now, I have a few things to say. One: Shouting does not help anything. Two: I highly doubt that it will take days. Yes, it will take longer than I first predicted, but it will still only take us a day and a half at the most. Now, let's move before night catches us, I refuse to hike once the sun goes down."

"Yes Yusuke, and be aware that if you offend my ears again with your incessant noise I will not hesitate to knock you out for a few hours. And neither of us will carry you."

"That's cold Hiei."

"As the snow will be if you are left lying in it. Now let's move!"

"All right Kurama, let's go." So saying, the trio, once again, began to hike up through the snow, up the mountain.

A/N: Yes, I know there is a little more swearing in this chapter than before, but it mainly goes away after this. Tell me if you think I should up the rating, but I think it's fine.

Review Responses:

Naoko Asakura 009: No, why would I mind? I take it as a compliment, thank you. Sorry I took a long time to get this chapter up.


	5. Chapter 5

"Talking" 'Thinking' .:Telepathic stuff:.

AAAAA - Change of time/place and whatnot

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

----------------------

_Skava_

Chapter five: Preparation and infiltration.

----------------------

Kurama felt like shouting with the joy. He was a little calmer, so he would not allow any outbursts of emotion, but he still had to work hard to keep a manic grin from possessing his face. As it was, he was still smiling when Yusuke looked up and found that he found that he had no such restraints.

"YES!! There's the temple!!" Kurama winced as his ears (metaphorically speaking) began to bleed. He heard a huge rustle as all the birds in a five-mile radius that had previously been resting in trees took to the air, startled.

"Yes Yusuke, that's a temple. And if I find you shouting like that ever again, I will personally slaughter you. They can hear you in America."

"Even through the portal? Impressive." Hiei caught himself before his eyes actually rolled, but they still narrowed considerably and he turned to face their destination, now so close at hand. It was an impressive sight for a human construction, high walls with guards equipped with swords and arrows and sprawling grounds with large and multiple buildings. However, he had seen bigger, and more impressive. Koenma's fortress, for example, and that had been child's play to infiltrate and steal out of. It was still at least a few miles off, but his Jagan allowed him to see through the walls into the heart of the temple. There, a pulsing core of energy, one that appeared to be nestled inside a small red gem, resting on a small cushion, surrounded by guards, drew his gaze.

"So," interrupted Yusuke, "Does anyone actually know what it is that we're after anyway? Koenma wasn't very specific when he gave us our mission." Kurama shook his head.

"No Yusuke, he just told us that Skava wanted it and it was our job to stop her."

"It's a gem," interrupted Hiei in a slightly hypnotic voice, "A red gem that is in the middle of the temple, surrounded by guards, and pulsing energy. I can't tell you what it would do, but I can get us there if need be."

"And you would know this because…" Hiei turned to face the teenager, Jagan eye open and glowing.

"Ah. Put that away Hiei, it's creepy." Hiei raised an eyebrow, but closed the eye, and retied his bandana around it before beginning to walk up the slope to the temple.

"Hey, wait up!"

AAAAA

She jumped from tree branch to tree branch along the tree line, eyes taking in every line of the walls and temple rooftops that she could see. Her sixth sense was trained on her back and sides, letting her stare with complete concentration, memorizing the building plan. This was a crucial step, she had to be able to get in and get out quickly. She did not doubt that she could defeat any of the guards in a one on one battle, but guards had a nasty tendency of ganging up, and even she could be taken with the right force of arms. After all, she was only one person. She mentally began filing any other kind of information that would prove itself useful, how many guards in one section of wall, where the weak spots were in the stone, and any nearby trees that could give her a lift. On the latter of the three she found them sadly lacking, until she reached the back. There they had been lazy, allowing the old pines to creep up on them and reach to the edge of the wall. She grinned.

'Stupid demons, don't they realize that any self-respecting thief would never come through the front? It's like they're just asking to be infiltrated!' Suddenly, her senses picked the presence of guards, patrolling the surrounding forest. She caught sight of them, and whipped around the truck of the majestic pine that she was currently perched in, holding her breath until the passed. As they did, she had to stop her self from rolling her eyes.

'They live in a forest and they don't even look up! Of course I'm not going to be on the ground, I'd leave tracks! And they just stomp through, leaving trails wherever they go. I swear, this is going to be one of the easiest jobs I've ever had.'

Famous last words.

AAAAA

"Now, please, try and understand this. There is a first-rate thief coming up the mountain this very instant and will be attempting to steal the jewel that we happen to know resides in this temple. I highly doubt that your own forces are enough to catch her. We must ask that you clear the grounds, for we will most likely cause a fight with her and we do not want to be distracted, trying to protect civilians will hinder our power. I must ask you one more time; we need you to clear the grounds for when this happens. Please, we most insist that you do this for us."

The head priest that they had been sent to delegate with frowned, and seemed to ponder what the red haired fox had said. However, almost immediately he had his answer.

"No. My guards can handle any infiltration that you may foresee. I do not know how you obtained information on my temple, but you will not clear it for any of your little fantasies of thieves. If there actually is a thief coming, we will take her out. You are allowed to assist us in this, but I will not clear the temple. Oh, and be warned. The gem that we speak of is tied to a powerful ice spirit. Anyone that removes it find themselves dead in a completely unpleasant way. Elementals have a way of being vicious. Do not think you can pull it out from our noses." His mouth was set in a hard and stubborn line, and his eyes were narrowed dangerously. His entire posture spoke of stubborn resistance, and futile argument.

Kurama sighed, and felt his mental sense twitch.

.:Kurama, we can always just make them obey us:.

.:Hiei, we don't want to start a war with these people:.

.:I didn't say anything about a war. I just mean make them abandon the grounds:.

.:But I do not want to hurt them if possible:.

.:They are mere demons:.

.:Yes, but they are innocent. They are simply following orders:.

.:All right fox, I won't argue. You have plants that induce sleep, don't you?:.

.:Of course. Thank you for pointing that out to me:. They continued to plan in their minds, while Kurama diplomatically agreed to the chief priest's wishes and expressed a concern about the falling night and the danger to travelers as light diminished. In other words, he weaseled a room and food out of the priest.

AAAAA

Night was falling. She was still perched on a tree limb, eyes trained the wall. She was waiting for the guards to change, allowing her for an easier way up. It was getting harder to see, and she found herself relying more and more on her sixth sense to tell her how many people were there, as well as her other senses like hearing and smell. Nothing much was happening, the guards were immobile, staring out at the tree line where she was hidden. She had to suppress a grin as she thought of what might happen if she just walked up and climbed the wall right under their noses.

'Would they even twitch if I walked up to the gate and yelled 'I AM A THIEF! SHOOT ME!'? I bet they wouldn't.'

After awhile, she thought she heard something out of the ordinary. By this time the light was completely gone, and in the veil of the forest, not even moonlight reached down. However, it was at times like this that her sixth sense activated and became even more sensitive, making up for her inability to see. She still could not tell precise movements of people, but she could sense emotions and the general auras of people. As she became more focused on the wall, she found that something very odd was happening. A new aura, one that had a different and much brighter tint to any of the guards. All the demons on the wall were a brown laced with the darker brown of boredom, while this newcomer was a light of almost lime green and spoke of the cool and collected dark green. As the green one was coming up each of them, the aura of the guard in question would become flared red with surprise, then became washed with the almost dead dark blue of unconsciousness.

Her eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. Someone else was on the wall and they were taking out the guards. Skava suspected a trap, though no one knew of her approach. She was not like some foolish thieves that sent advanced notices, she preferred to be in and out before anyone knew they were in danger. However, even if anyone knew that she were coming, why would they take out the guards? It made no sense. She also saw with surprise that another aura was coming onto the wall, this one just as bright as the green stalker. However, this one was a bright purple instead of green and was spiked with the flaring orange of excitement. The purple one was coming up to the green and she yelled in her head at the new comer to run before succumbing to the trap, but he merely grabbed a dark blue guard and passed out of sight, dragging the body.

'So,' she thought, 'The attacker has an accomplice. But why are they here? Are they after Kokoro no Chi1 too? If so, they are well on their way to getting it. I have to move quickly. With the guards taken out it will be easier, but I can't let the green attacker see me. I still have to wait.' She perched on her branch for a good 15 minutes after both auras had disappeared for the last time, then began to move forward. She hopped from branch to branch, always getting closer to the wall. Finally, she peered over the edge onto the stone floor. She sent magic feelers out, and when she sensed no traps, stepped gingerly onto the stone.

She landed in a crouch, and surveyed the area around her. All the guards were missing, the purple one had seen to that. Still, she stepped as softly as possible, so the not even someone standing immediately in front of her would hear her foot come down. It was not an easy feat, it was something she prided herself on and had taken years of practice.

As she crept along the wall, keeping low in case someone looked up, she noticed that everything was silent. Besides the usual night noises of animals hunting and other animals settling down, there were no there were no other sounds that even her sensitive ears could detect. It worried her.

'At the risk of sounding entirely clichéd and stupid….it's quiet. Too quiet. Where are the sounds of the priests? If the attackers have taken them out, shouldn't they be feeling confident? There are at least two of them, wouldn't they be conversing? I should hear them boasting and laughing, but I don't.' She peered over the edge of the wall and, seeing that the courtyard was indeed empty, jumped down. She landed silently and in a crouch, head up and eyes taking in the scene before her. One or two lamps were lit more towards the middle, allowing for her to see, but she was still completely in shadow. She skirted along the edges, all senses fully trained on anything that could be moving. She already knew that the one that shone green could move silently and quickly, she wasn't sure she would even know he was behind her until she felt a knife in her back. Still, she detected nothing as she crept through deserted hallways. Finally, her magical sense lead her to a pulsing core of energy that rested behind giant double doors. She tried the handles, and was not at all surprised to find that they were locked. She settled herself down and put her hands up next to the handles, palms facing the doors.

Calling up her magical power, she felt a warm bubbling as the dormant magic in her was called back to life. A sphere of light appeared between her hands and slid into the lock, effectively unlocking it. She smiled. Although that was the only magic she could do, she always loved the feel of a lock or seal giving under her power. She reached out her hand, and grabbed the handle. Trying again to open it, she felt the handle give and the door begin to open. The door was pretty heavy, and she found herself leaning into the wood to make it open. The hinges were well oiled and did not creak, and finally the door was open far enough. She slipped inside and checked her vision. There were no auras whatsoever, showing her that the room was completely empty. She slowly closed the door behind her, turning to it and locking it in case the green and purple ones decided to come after the gem as well.

"Hello Skava. Glad you could join us."

A/N: Yay, a cliffhanger! How nice. Reviews help me get off my lazy but and post.

1 The gem's name is "Kokoro no Chi" meaning "Heart's Blood."

Review responses:

Animagus Brushtail: Darn. Here I was thinking I was original. Kidding.

CHorse10: Thanks for the review, I prefer long detailed ones to short ones. I'm not sure what you meant by "unreasonable." She's not a moth demon, I'm not even really sure what she is. She's not a fire demon either, the only fire demon is Hiei, and I don't see how he would be "unreasonable." If I don't describe the clothes that they're wearing it's because they're wearing their basic clothing. I'm not quite sure on what a Mary-Sue is myself, but I know that it's a story with an original character, that usually is all powerful and usually ends up stealing the guy. Or girl, if the OC is a guy. I don't think Hiei has been talking too much at all, I think it fits his character well, but if it's really a problem, maybe I'll do something about it. Thanks for the review, I liked reading it.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, I'm reeeeeally sorry about not updating sooner. However, it's not JUST because I'm lazy. I'm very shaky on how well this is written, so I edited it a lot and still held off on posting it as a result of my insecurity. But, I figured that I've made people wait long enough for an update, so here it is anyway, despite my qualms.

And then I thought I'd updated and waited for days for reviews, not realizing I hadn't actually updated. Sorry about that.

"Talking in Japanese." 'Thinking in the speaker's native language.' .:Telepathic stuff:. _"Makai dialect."_

AAAAA – Change of time/place or whatever.

Note: As I am lazy, all thoughts are in the speaker's natural language. I'm just keeping it the same style for simplicity.

Another Note: I've gotten a lot of reviews that say they notice the lack of spelling/grammar/typographical errors in my writing. In fact, almost all of them have said that. I'm not sure if that means that I'm just that good, or that many people are just that bad...Just something I felt like saying.

Disclaimer: Skava is mine. Yusuke, Koenma, Botan, and Keiko are not mine. Hiei and Kurama are not mine (DAMN!). None of the YYH people are mine, but the new people are.

----------------------

_Skava_

Chapter six: Capture?

----------------------

"Hello Skava. Glad you could join us." She whirled around to face the darkened room. Everything seemed deserted, the gem was lying in the middle of an empty room surround by a protective glass shell, and her sight was not picking up any auras. The entire room seemed completely empty; no body was showing through the dark room. And yet she had definitely heard a voice. It was loud and rather cold, though she couldn't understand the words. But how could it be? Was it possible that someone could shield themselves from even her sensory vision? No! No, it couldn't be! Suddenly, her sixth sense took a dive in prominence as the room was brightly lit with a white and glowing light. She had to shield her eyes until they could adjust to the new light, then gasped at what she saw. Plants lined the walls, clinging to it like vines, and all of them had glowing lamp-like objects instead of flowers. They were disturbing, and obviously something that came from the Makai. However, she soon forgot this when she saw that she was, indeed, not alone.

Two attackers were spaced in the middle, one that resembled a human teenager but was obviously something more, and the other…Wait. She had seen him before! She drudged up a memory of a few months ago, when she was still searching for information on this blasted temple that no one knew anything about. She had been attacked, and then she had killed them. And then that black clad one had appeared. What was his name?! Then she remembered. Hiei. His name was Hiei. She scanned the room, and noticed the presence of a third, hidden in the corner of the room, surrounded by the vines. They seemed to be almost petting him, as if they were glad to be in the same region as him. The vines were clearly originating from the clawed hand that protruded from the mass of vines, however, she could not see who it was that controlled them. However, she realized that he was not intending to come after her and turned her attention back to the two at hand.

_"You. Hiei. I know you. I thought you agreed that you wished me no harm."_ The teenager snorted.

"Hiei, you actually said something like that? Who would've thought?"

"Shut up Yusuke. I had no interest in fighting her, which was all, and at the time, she was not a mission. _Things have changed."_ He said, switching from the Japanese Skava couldn't understand to the Makai dialect, directing the last comment back to the thief.

_"Hmm. Well, I will not forget this."_ At that moment, she disappeared. In fact, she had merely started running, but to an untrained eye it would appear that she had simply vanished. She darted along the wall line looking for a blind spot on her opponents, her speed occasionally taking her up the surface of the wall. She jumped between the vines, not wanting to touch them. However, she made the slight mistake of jumping too close to the clump of vines that were centered around whoever was controlling them. Immediately, long tendrils reached out to snag her and she leapt backward in mid-air, landing in a crouch on the ground, then quickly speed away to avoid being grabbed by the plants that weren't aware of the fact that they weren't supposed to move.

As she ran, another was following her. When she had escaped reach of the vines, she turned around to face them, just to make sure she safe. However, she found herself face to face with none other than Hiei. She reeled back, surprised, and couldn't help but gasp a little. He was fast! She leaped out of the way as his sword came out and moved to cut her, and darted to the other end of the room. However, before she could even catch her breath Hiei was once again in front of her. He smirked, and the sword came down.

However, it bit only air and the wood where she had once been. Hiei stood up, and looked around the room. There she was, clinging to a vine in the corner of the room up near the roof, panting slightly and looking more than a tiny bit scared. He would not allow her to escape. He signaled to Yoko in the corner, and the vine that she was perched on was suddenly active, wrapping itself around her in an attempt to bind her. However, she drew out her sword and cut them away, then fell to the ground with a slight thud. She rose immediately and found herself blocking an incoming sword as Hiei began slicing at her in full force. With a lightning series of slashes and stabs, Skava found herself on both the offense and defense. She actually began to find herself grinning as she faced her toughest opponent ever.

Hiei had to admit that he was impressed. He had finally met an opponent that might actually be able to beat him with a sword. He found that he was actually enjoying the challenge, it was something new. He'd found someone that was not only as fast as he was, but also as skilled as he was at his own weapon of choice.

Now it is time to remind the readers that Hiei and Yoko are not the only fighters in this room. Yusuke had originally been put off by how fast she was and had been looking for an opening to attack, but finding none as Hiei continued to pursue the thief. However, when Hiei began to truly engage her in sword combat, they were starting to stay mainly in one place, and he found what he was looking for.

Skava was truly being impressed with her opponent. So far neither of them had managed to land a blow on the other, they were that equally matched. However, her uplifted mood was quickly shattered as she found herself lying on the ground, clutching her stomach. Reviewing what had happened in her mind, she recalled a fist contacting her midsection, but everything was becoming blurry. She grimaced in both pain and self-berating.

'Skava, you idiot! You forgot about the other fighter! That was a stupid, naïve, inexperienced mistake to make! You should know better than that! You DO know better than that! What the hell were you doing?! Always, ALWAYS, know how many people are around you, and NEVER forget that they may not fight one-on-one! You IDIOT! Now you're going to DIE because of you made a rookie mistake! Wait…why aren't I dead yet?'

Hiei started at the fist coming up and quickly dodged out of the way, though he knew that it wasn't meant for him. Skava crumpled to the ground and he had to quickly abort his coming attack to avoid cutting both her and the Toushin that had chosen to interfere. He backed up and viewed his fallen opponent. She was doubled up on the ground, obviously in pain. He grimaced. He didn't like it that Yusuke had come in when Skava had obviously forgotten about him and was not prepared for his attack, but there was really nothing that he could or would do.

Yusuke grinned.

"Finally! I've been waiting for an opening! Hey Hiei, she's almost as fast as you are."

"As fast."

"What?"

"She is just as fast as I am if not a little more."

"…Wow. That's something new. Well, I don't really want to kill her, and Koenma said we didn't have to. You want to just bind her and bring her in?" Hiei nodded, and then started as Skava began to rise.

_"Hey, Skava! Get back on the ground and we won't kill you!"_ Yusuke yelled, switching to Makai for her benefit. He was not all that surprised to hear a feral growl emanating from the silver demon in front of him.

_"In your dreams. You hit hard, human boy. So hard, that I don't think you are human at all. But that's no matter. I will not be caught by the likes of you."_ So saying, she struggled to her feet and leapt up to the wall, clinging to yet another vine. Her reaction time was still a little slow, but she could feel the pain receding as her muscles recovered. Her eyes focused on the gem in the middle of the room, a shimmer above it revealing the glass case around it. If she could just reach it…She leapt off the wall and flew through the air, forgetting about the vines. Although they were a little too slow to fully snag her, one did manage to snag her leg for a second before breaking, tripping her off balance.

Hiei saw her fall through the air, and prepared himself for the crash that would follow. He almost winced when it came, and was quickly over at the pedestal, grabbing Skava's hands to pin her to where she lay. Yusuke followed, and together they pinned her significantly, as Yoko stepped away from the vines that had covered him. Skava was still struggling when she saw the silver fox step forward out of the mass of vines. Hiei watched her eyes widen and her struggles weaken as she took in what she saw.

_"Yoko,"_ she breathed in reverence. The silver fox raised an eyebrow.

_"Oh? So you know me even just by my look? I am impressed."_ She laughed slightly.

_"Of course I know you! I'm a thief, remember? You are a legend among thieves!"_ He really had no reply to this, but just reached into his hair, and drew out a seed. Hiei saw this.

_"Yoko, I would prefer that we don't kill her."_

_"I know, Hiei."_ To most of the people's surprise, she laughed.

_"So. You don't even have the guts to kill me. Come on? What's the problem, Yoko? The fearless, merciless Yoko finally getting soft? Ass-holes. If you're going to take me, then just kill me."_ Yoko grimaced.

_"The worst way to be defeated is to be taken alive. I know this."_ He walked over and the flower that had sprouted in his hand reached forward to cover her mouth and nose, releasing its pollen. Sleep was immediate.

A/N: Yes, I know I'm not very good at writing combat scenes, so if it sucks, oh well. I'm assuming there will be a few more, but I may hopefully improve. Hopefully. If not, then I will just lose a few readers that get angry with me and stop reading (but not before flaming me about how much my combat writing sucks). Ah well, that's life.

Review Responses:

Queen of Roses: Thank you, I try. .. Writing humor is more amusing to me than being serious. Wow, I just realized how obvious that sounds…Eh, whatever. You get what I meant.

Helpful? (Yes, the person's actual user name): Believe me, I'm trying. Sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

Here is an update. You noticed, eh? As you might have noticed, I'm going to a weekly updating schedule instead of a bi-weekly one. I just don't get to it during the school week. Also, yes, I know there is a slight recap in the beginning, but I made it that way so I could tell it from the different point of views of the people in the room.

"Talking in Japanese." 'Thinking in the speaker's native language.' .:Telepathic stuff:. _"Makai dialect."_

AAAAA – Change of time/place or whatever.

----------------------

_Skava_

Chapter seven: Danger on the mountain

----------------------

She crashed onto the pedestal in the middle of the room, shattering the glass that surrounded the gem. To anyone watching, it was a painful sight. Hiei dashed over and pinned her, Yusuke quickly following. He could tell that she was not seeing straight, her instinct kicking in was what made her thrash so violently.

Well, it wasn't exactly all instinct, that was just what the fighters thought. Although she knew she could not shake them off, a good thief is never without a backup plan. As she fought against her captors, they failed to notice as she managed to slip one arm behind her back. There, her hand closed on the red gem that was Kokoro no Chi. Knowing that they would notice if the gem was simply missing when they picked her up, she stashed the gem into her belt, then replaced it with a hunk of worthless red glass that she knew she would eventually need. At that moment, the one figure that she had ever had any reason to respect came forward. Against her will, her eyes widened.

_"Yoko,"_ she breathed in reverence. The silver fox raised an eyebrow.

_"Oh? So you know me even just by my look? I am impressed."_ She laughed slightly.

_"Of course I know you! I'm a thief, remember? You are a legend among thieves!"_ She saw that he felt no need to reply to this, but she saw him reach into his hair and pull out what looked like a seed. The fire demon had obviously seen as well.

_"Yoko, I would prefer that we don't kill her."_

_"I know, Hiei."_ She sneered, and then laughed. They really were going to take her alive. And Yoko of all people would know what that meant. At least dead they could say she had some honor. But taken alive? That was the worst. It meant that you either begged for your life or were too cowardly to end it. No soldier would ever be taken alive.

"_So.__ You don't even have the guts to kill me. Come on? What's the problem, Yoko? The fearless, merciless Yoko finally getting soft? Ass-holes. If you're going to take me, then just kill me_." Yoko grimaced.

"The worst way to be defeated is to be taken alive. I know this." She watched, eyes set, as he came forward, flower already sprouted in his hand. It reached forward to cover her mouth and nose, and she felt like she was drowning in flowers. The scents flew past her in hazy, frantic. The last thing she was aware of was a rushing sound in her ears as she descended in to unconsciousness. And then there was nothing.

AAAAA

Yoko retracted the flower when he sensed that she was asleep, then transformed back into Kurama.

"Bind her hands; I don't want her waking up while we're coming down the mountain." Hiei and Yusuke relaxed their grip, and Yusuke complied, then picked up her body and walked out of the room, the others following behind. They quickly hastened out of the building, a few of the guards were waking up, and they weren't very happy. They came out of the building, and began to walk down the mountain. Yusuke grinned.

"Well, at least it should be easier getting down." Kurama stopped dead, then bent down and picked up a small, red, glittering something.

"Oh no."

"What?" He held up what he had picked from the snow. Yusuke's eyes widened.

"SHE DIDN'T! HOW?! HOW DID SHE GET IT?!" Kurama suddenly remembered something.

"Didn't the priest say that this was tied to an ice spirit? And if it were taken, something would happen? We would all die? And Elementals are not something I'm familiar with, or wish to be. Hiei? Do you know what this means?"

"Elementals tend to be protective, and they can tell when something's been upset. Because it's an ice spirit, and we are on a snow covered mountain, I'd say it's either blizzard or avalanche that this thing will trigger." Yusuke swore colorfully, and Kurama lifted his head, listening intently.

"Do you hear that?"

AAAAA

The nothing was fading. Her head was spinning and pounding, and her mouth tasted absolutely disgusting. However, her sight wasn't all that impaired, and her hearing was fine. She blinked and looked up. Her eyes widened and all head spinning was immediately gone. There were three things that immediately became clear. A giant wall of ice was flying down the side of the mountain, and closing in at speeds that didn't seem possible. She was being carried by someone that was not being very gentle, and was running at another speed that almost didn't seem possible. Also, people were in danger of being killed.

She took another stock of her situation. Her hands were bound. That wasn't exactly a problem. She grinned, and was glad that she always had daggers stored in the sleeves of her outfit. She got one to slide down, and she managed to get enough of a grip on it that she sawed off the ropes binding her. It wasn't until then that she allowed her wings to react and spread out. And so they did.

AAAAA

Yusuke was running. Quickly. He was shouting to Kurama, trying to tell him to become Yoko to create the plant with wings, but Kurama was running too quickly to maintain the focus needed for the transformation, and no one was going to carry him. Suddenly, he felt his captive push off from his shoulder and launch herself in front of him, still facing the wrong way to run away. His sight was filled with the sight of glittering, moth like wings, and braced himself for the crash. When it came, he found himself wrapped in a tight embrace, than lifted up into air. He struggled and broke free, landing on the snow again to roll to his feet and leap further. Looking up, he saw that Skava had some how managed to grow wings, and was now shouting at him.

_"You idiot!__ Do you want to get killed?! I can save you, just grab on!"_ He looked back, saw the snow behind him closing in, then made the smart decision (for once.)

_"Ok!"_ She swooped down, and grabbed his outstretched arm, pulling him into the air. They rose a few feet, then Skava continued to speed down, catching up to Hiei.

_"Hiei!__ I can help you! Grab onto me! I will take us out of here!"_

_"I don't need your help!"_

She screamed in frustration. _"Fine!__ I'll just get Yoko! I'm assuming the red head is him!"_ She banked her speed, and let Kurama catch up to her. Kurama had already seen Skava sprout wings, and so quickly grabbed her hand when it was offered to him. He slid up onto her back, then calmed himself enough to transform into his Yoko form. Once he had achieved that, he summoned the plant that acted as wings (this is an actual plant from the show, I'm not making it up.) He immediately jumped off Skava's back, and used the vines that grew from it to snag Yusuke out of her grasp. He then proceeded to catch up to Hiei and so grabbed him as well. Hiei cursed the Yoko, but wasn't about to torch the vines and get free.

Skava shook her head. 'So he won't even trust me to carry one of them? Ah well, it's not like I really blame them. I don't think I'd trust me. But still, that has to be heavy'. She twitched when she felt a vine snake around her waist and tie together, binding her to the Yoko.

She grinned. 'And they're still not letting me go.' She followed the Yoko down the mountain. She gazed down at the flow of ice in awe. She grinned every time she saw her captor watch her, making sure she wasn't running away. However, one hand was always working. At that moment it was fingering her wrist blade, and gently sawing at the vine that ensnared her.

Yoko glided down the mountain, aided by his plant. He worried about his captive, but he could do no better than tie her and pay attention to the bond. He frowned when he noticed it was tweaking. What was she doing? The vine was…fraying. His eyes narrowed, and he yanked the vine, pulling her into him. He growled in her ear, and wrapped a new vine around her, one that burned. She yelped and tried to pull away, but he held her fast.

_"I suggest you don't try and run away anymore."_ She grinned.

_"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't even try."_ He growled in response, and returned the burning plant to its dormant seed stage. She gasped slightly in relief and quickly flew away to what she considered to be the safest distance.

'Although I guess the only true safe distance is on another planet. Or in another dimension. Or dead. Yeah, dead is probably best. Because you know, you can't die twice. Although there is always torture. You know, I'm going to stop this now, before I begin to ramble incoherently. Yeah, I think I'm getting a little too nervous about this whole thing. I'm actually…caught. Damn. All it takes is one. And now I'm…caught. This sucks.' Understatement of the century.

She gazed down at the wall of ice moving down the mountain again and couldn't help being filled with a sense of awe. It was amazing really, the way that power and strength meant nothing to the forces of nature. Hundred-year-old trees were ripped in two and crushed beneath the power, and she had to block out the feeling of lives being taken, crushed before they even had a chance to run. The sky was becoming thick with the flight of thousands of frightened birds, those that had been lucky enough to escape. Even gliding hundreds of feet above the rush, she could still feel the updraft, and they were coming to the bottom. They kept going for awhile, then began their descent, finally touching down far from the mountain.

A/N: This was one that was easier to write than the previous chapter, but not the best. I had this image in my head from the beginning of the story, I had to try to fit it in. Anyway, review and tell me what you think!

Review Responses:

Ookami Aya: Thanks for the positive feedback. I sometimes have trouble visualizing things in my head, that's why I doubt myself when I'm trying to write a scene that requires a lot of action.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Do I have an excuse for getting this chapter up so late? No. Just an apology. Sorry.

"Talking in Japanese." 'Thinking in the speaker's native language.' .:Telepathic stuff:. _"Makai dialect."_

AAAAA – Change of time/place or whatever.

----------------------

_Skava_

Chapter eight: What now?

----------------------

They glided down the mountain, finally touching down far beyond the slide. Skava stood, and was slightly surprised to feel the vine around her loosen and slide away. She also started back a bit when she saw the silver Youko glow bright and turn back into the red head that she had grabbed off the ground. Suddenly she felt her self jerked backwards as an arm snaked around her neck and tightened. The pressure was crushing her wings, and they folded into her back, becoming stubs again. She heard a voice hiss in her ear.

_"Why did you save us? If you thought it would make us let you go, you were wrong. Tell us quickly, while you're still conscious."_ She gasped.

_"Can't…breath."_

_"Yes, Yusuke, you might want to loosen your hold a bit. We want answers, not permanent brain damage."_ Yusuke sneered, but loosened his hold slightly.

_"So…you want to know why I saved you? It's simple. I'm a thief, not a murderer. Well, I am when I have to be, but that's not the point. The point is that you needed help and I could give it. Case closed. Now, could you please let go? You're still crushing my windpipe."_

_"Not until you drop that knife in your hand."_

_"What…Oh. Heh. Whoops."_ She dropped the dagger that she had forgotten to hide back in her sleeve and held her hands palm up in the universal signal of peace. Yusuke dropped his strangle hold and Skava dropped to the ground, massaging her neck, while Hiei darted forward and stashed her dagger in his cloak.

"Kurama? We still need to get her back to headquarters. Should we put her back to sleep?" He began speaking in Japanese, knowing Skava couldn't understand them. She looked blankly at them all as they continued their conversation.

"I don't know. She woke up rather quickly from that last time, and that was the strongest plant I have. Besides, she did save us. I feel that deserves a little bit of courtesy."

"Oh, damn it, guys! She's our job! If the plant doesn't work, then we'll do it this way!" Yusuke walked over and swiftly punched the silver youkai in the temple. She glared and crumpled to the ground, completely unconscious. He looked at his companions.

"Sorry if that seemed harsh, but we need to get her back. Koenma wouldn't let us get away with letting her go, and I agree that we shouldn't kill her. But if she's going to wake up from the flowers, then we needed to do it this way. Let's go. I'm sick of this cold." Kurama looked down at their crumpled captive, then back up and nodded.

"Yes Yusuke, she is our mission. And it's time to leave." The trio once again began to open the portal, Skava placed in the middle of the triangle. The portal became wide enough and Kurama bent down and picked her up, then stepped through onto the other side, the others following suite.

AAAAA

They emerged back in the park that they had left, although now it was early morning.

"I always find it odd how time passes differently in the different worlds. Although it has been more than a day in the ice world, it has only been a few hours here. We still have enough time to return her to Koenma and then get home before real sunrise." Kurama looked at the captives he held in his arms. To his surprise, he noticed that her face was slightly furrowed, as if she were having a bad dream. She whimpered slightly and rocked slightly before quieting. He began to walk to the designated meeting area where Botan would transport her to the Spirit world. Unfortunately, the designated meeting spot was his house, which was miles away from there. They walked on in silence for awhile. Before too long, Kurama began to notice, to his dismay, his captive's nightmare appeared to be getting worse. She was whining slightly and actually starting to kick out. He found his arms beginning to tire from carrying her.

"Yusuke!"

"Yeah, Kurama. What's up?"

"Can you take her for awhile? She's having some sort of nightmare and it's tiring my arms out." Yusuke rolled his eyes to the sky.

"The captive has a nightmare and the fox wimps out. Yeah, I'll take her." Kurama handed her over to Yusuke, which did not seem to sit well with the captive. She cried out as if in pain and thrashed in Yusuke's arms before settling slightly, only mildly twisting and moaning. No real words had as of yet escaped her lips, which was probably for the best. Yusuke was having a rather tough time with the thief; she was about as tall as he was and almost as heavy.

"Damn, you've got some strength! Stop!" Of course, this did nothing to pacify her. In fact it actually seemed to upset her more. She began to murmur two words over and over again. Yusuke bent in close to hear her, and was finally able to make out what she was saying. It made him start.

"_Trap…Trap…Trap…Run…Trap…Run…Trap… RUUUN!!!"_ With a scream she jolted up, eyes wide, staring around her. Kurama barely had the time to shout a warning before Yusuke found that he was down on the ground, slowly coming out of unconsciousness. Hiei had also sensed the danger and was already pursuing her, though she was having none of it. She ran as if possessed, like all the demons of all the seven hells were chasing after, howling their gruesome cries and lusting for blood. Her sight was inward, trapped in her own head of nightmares and pain. She actually began to scream, a pitch too high for most ears to hear, her eyes staring blindly and wildly into the trees. She became a blur streaking through the trees, still terrified.

AAAAA

She was walking through the park, despite the chill that nipped at her. It was only early morning, at most 2a.m., but time mattered nothing to her. She was nothing. She had nothing. Homeless, no family, no one that would care whether or not she lived to see the sun rise again. She was relatively young, only in her mid-thirties, but drugs and the pains of living on the street had aged her both outwardly and inside. Now she was just another shabbily clad woman walking the streets. No one saw her, no one knew her, and no one cared.

She was in fact one of those that didn't care. She often wondered what made her get up at all, though she supposed it was just routine. No respectable company would hire a drug addicted, homeless woman that looked like she was sixty. A few people felt sorry for her every few days and gave her enough money to buy food. She also just took what she could from unwary passerbies that couldn't keep a close watch on their own possessions.

She sometimes wondered why she didn't just die if it would supply her with some sort of relief. She no longer believed in happiness but after living in constant pain, relief is the closest thing to bliss. She supposed she lacked the courage to take that final step and end her life. She wished that someone would just come and kill her and let her take the easy way out. It would be better then living for what seemed like forever alone, without anyone to care for or about her.

AAAAA

Skava was still racing through the trees of a simple park, panicked and blind. Suddenly her senses flared as another presence came into her thoughts. Through the dim fog of her mind, the only thing that could register was, 'Another being is another threat. Eliminate the threat.' However, she quickly had to brake as she crashed into the human that had unwittingly put herself in danger. As the woman dazedly crawled back onto her feet, she felt herself dragged up and immediately went still as she felt the cold metal of a dagger press against her neck. A voice hissed in her ear strange hissing and growling sounds that she could not understand as she felt herself trapped against the body of a hostile attacker.

Her breath caught and only one thought came through. 'I'm actually going to die." She wondered why this shocked her, until she realized something vital. She was afraid. In all her mental and physical loathing now that the moment came, she was actually afraid. She didn't want to die. It was incredible, this fear. It filled her entire body and chilled her to the bone before freezing her completely. She didn't want to die.

_"If you want to live you will not move, you will not speak, you will not look anywhere but straight ahead, you will do nothing except exactly what I tell you to do. You-" _A shout pierced the air.

"Skava! Stop!" She looked up, startled by the voice, if not the words. Her senses had not picked up the arrival of others. She saw the red haired Youko…what had they called him? Kurama, that was it. There was also the black haired teenager. The fog was lifting from her panic. That's right. His name was Yusuke. And where was the other one? Hiei was his name, the traitor. But where was he?

_"Tell me why I should? I've lost everything! You should have just killed me when you had the chance! And now I have nothing left, nothing to loose! But you do! Tell me why I should let this filthy wretch go and let myself be taken! Tell me why I shouldn't just kill her and let her body rot! No one will care, no one except you! Could you live with her death on your conscience? Knowing that you could have prevented it? Knowing that if you'd been just a little bit faster, she would have lived? You know that I will slit her throat before you can even take a step! Tell me, can you live with her death on your soul?"_ Kurama looked down in sorrow and sighed.

_"No, Skava. I could not."_

_"But I can."_ She froze at the cool and collected voice behind her. So that's where Hiei was. She still could not sense him, and in her distraction she had failed to hear him. She felt a hand grip her elbow and apply pressure, starting to break it. She knew it would crack if he applied just a little more pressure. It was already hurting like the seven hells at the moment; beads of sweat were forming on her forehead as she struggled not to cry out.

_"Drop her, now."_ She snorted in derisive amusement and drew her arm away from the woman's throat before whipping it around and connecting her elbow to Hiei's skull coming back around to crack the women on the temple. Both crumpled, the woman unconscious. Hiei merely stumbled back but did a quick flip, landing with sword out. Skava also was ready, sword up. Kurama shouted.

_"Stop! This will accomplish nothing."_ Neither showed any sign of breaking their gaze. He turned to Yusuke.

"Will you stop this?" he murmured, "I will stop Hiei, but can you stop Skava? Knock her out again if you have to, I don't care. This is the second time she's almost escaped, I'm sick of it." Yusuke nodded his consent and began to tread softly toward the silver thief, preparing to deal another blow.

However, he was not silent. Hiei and Skava faced each other, the one trying to make the other break the gaze. Hiei eyes flickered for just a second, and Skava tensed. She then quickly flipped up into the air and came down, right behind Yusuke. He tried to turn to face her, but she kicked him hard and he went flying. He crashed into a tree, splintering wood before sliding to the ground.

"Skava!" She wasn't moving. Kurama slowly approached her, checking for signs of movement. She stayed completely still until he was next to her.

"Skava?" She still wasn't responding. He tentatively laid a hand on her shoulder. She jerked and turned to stare at him. He was shocked by the look in her eyes. She looked scared and innocent.

_"Yoko? Where am I? What is this place? And why do you have red hair? What is going on?"_ He hushed her quickly by putting a hand up to her mouth.

_"Sshh. Have you never heard of the human world?"_ She shook her head slowly.

_"It is one of the many dimensions in our universe. The Makai is one, this is the Ningenkai. There are also the Spirit and Ice worlds. This is a small piece of the puzzle, though it seems to be a popular one, mainly because the main population is that of weaklings. You saw how easily that woman could be broken. They are the ones that run this world. I can not explain better here. As for my appearance, this is my human form. At the current time I am a merger of demon and human, it's both a complicated and a long story, one that I do not have the time to tell at the moment. Are you all right for now?"_ She nodded a little. He nodded back at her.

_"Good. And now I'm sorry to have to do this."_ He put his hand over her mouth, releasing his flower again. She gasped in shock, and then slumped to the ground. He addressed her again, switching back to Japanese for convenience.

"But you're our mission. And you almost killed someone. I have to get you away from here. You're not welcome until you can learn to deal with it better." He looked up at his teammates. Hiei was watching, slightly angry with the kitsune for stealing the chance for a fight. Yusuke was also climbing to his feet, shaking bits of bark out of his hair, and trying to shake off the dizziness that comes from being slammed into a tree.

"So…are we actually going to get her to Koenma this time?"

-End of Chapter 8

Review Responses:

Gerru: Thanks for the positive feedback!

Seigimoro no Anoyo: I was going to write a long response...but I'm tired. Suffice to say, I took your advice to heart and deleted about ten thousand commas I realized weren't necessary. Thanks for the critisism. My ego was getting inflated. Sweatdrop Feel free to rip this chapter apart as well.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Well, this is as good a time as any to tell the story's length. It is 16 chapters long, most chapters are longer than this. I am currently working on a sequel and several sister stories for it that won't follow any continuous line. They will be shorter than this, just little side stories. I don't know how long the sequel will be as I just started writing it, but maybe about as long as this one.

"Talking in Japanese." 'Thinking in the speaker's native language.' .:Telepathic stuff:. _"Makai dialect."_

AAAAA – Change of time/place or whatever.

Note: In an ever increasing display of my laziness, if no one else is around that speaks a different language; speech not being in italics simply means speaking in the speaker's native language, regardless of what that is. Even if they are speaking out loud.

----------------------

Skava

Chapter nine: Deliverance

----------------------

Kurama sighed. He was incredibly weary. Skava had continued to wake up, quicker each time from the flower. Yusuke had not hesitated to knock her out by use of force, but even that didn't hold for long. Finally they had turned her over to Koenma. At the moment he was back at his house, sitting at his desk, trying vainly to focus on his homework.

'It's over. Focus. What is the equation for a circle that has…Why am I still thinking about this? She was a thief, and we had an obligation.' An image flashed across his mind. She was looking at him, and she was scared. Her eyes looked innocent in a startling way. The bright metallic silver tended to offset the mind and create a cold look, but as she'd looked at him…all he'd seen was bewilderment and fear. He was worried about her, though he didn't want to admit it.

.:Kurama:.

.:Oh. Hello Hiei. You are thinking about her too?:. There was a pause before the fire demon replied.

.:Hn. It irritates me:.

.:Are you worried about her as I am?:.

Kurama almost laughed as he literally felt Hiei shake his head.

.:I do not know. I want her out of my mind. I do NOT like having her keep popping into my head. It is possession, it is violation, and I can't stop it… I want to kill something:.

.:Well I won't stop you, but make sure it's not human. Go into the mountains away from civilization. And try to just pulverize a rock:.

.:Hn:. He felt the connection break. He shook his head.

"Now what?" He murmured out loud.

AAAAA

Skava groaned as she groggily came out of her drug-induced sleep. She shook her head and immediately regretted the action.

"Oh man, those flowers are HELL. I have a high immunity for those things, but DAMN! They really make the head pound. I feel like I have twenty ogres in my head, clawing and screaming at the back of my eyeballs trying to rip my head open so they can wreck apocalyptic doom on the unsuspecting world." She paused for a minute, contemplating what she had just said.

"Wow, I need help. Anyway, where am I?" she looked around the room she was in.

"Oh crap. What _is_ it with people and dungeons? They are ALWAYS dark, cold, stone, and dreary! Would it KILL them to get some lights or something?" Establishing to herself in her own way that she was indeed captured; she decided to see how much she could move. First she tried to stand up. That was good. Then she tried to stretch her arms in front of her. That was bad. She could move them, but not very far. She looked down at her manacles. They were of a metal that only melted at incredibly high temperatures. She knew by this point how to tell what a lock was made of.

"Tricks of the trade," she muttered under her breath, "Can't get by for this long without learning _something._ Let's see what we're dealing with now." She focused her power to concentrate on her shackles, and began to probe the locks mentally only to be immediately slammed back into her own aching head as the protection spells forced her back.

"Ok…so that didn't work. Let's try something else." She managed to place a hand over one of the shackles and started with a basic breaking technique. It almost worked, but about ten seconds in she received a nasty electric shock from the chains.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you." She looked up in surprise, having failing to notice the arrival of a kind of guard. He didn't look too fearsome, he was hardly even wearing armor, but he was carrying a VERY nasty looking pike and what looked like some kind electric shocker. As for the demon himself, he seemed to be a simple kind of ogre and most likely not very bright. He noticed her eyeing his weapons.

"Don't worry. These won't be used on you unless you warrant it. And trying to escape warrants it. If I were you, I would just stay put until Koenma decides what to do with you."

"Yes, but if you were me then I would be you. And if I were you, I would shut up and not try to stop me." She glared and her captor of the moment with nothing less than extreme hatred. He almost shuddered at her venomous glare but reminded himself that there was really no way she could do anything. She was in middle of the rather large room, chained tight, and he was safely on the other side of the gate. All her weapons had also been removed, her sword and two daggers that they had found in her shirt sleeves as well as the other thin dagger attached by a cord hanging around her neck and the ones stashed into her belt/sash line.

"Hmm," he replied in a carefree manner. "That insolence will not go unnoticed. However, I will not punish you at the moment as per Koenma's request. So just try to get comfortable." She growled like a feral beast, lifting her upper lip enough to show small but entirely pointed fangs. He turned away from her and left, calling behind him.

"You get fed in an hour. Don't try anything between now and then. After that you will be fed twice a day, less if you act up. And no, you will not get any freedom to move or exercise period, or the chance to confer with other prisoners. Though I'm not sure why anyone would want to, we find that by allowing the prisoners to talk to each other let's them escape." With that he was gone, leaving Skava snarling behind him.

A/N: Sorry about being late. I've given up trying to get on any sort of schedule.


	10. Chapter 10

"Talking in Japanese." 'Thinking in the speaker's native language.' .:Telepathic stuff:. _"Makai dialect."_

AAAAA – Change of time/place or whatever.

Note: All dialogue in this chapter is in Makai dialect. There're no humans, so there wouldn't be any Japanese.

----------------------

Skava 

Chapter ten: Escape?

----------------------

Skava woke blearily from sleep. Although she didn't really need it, she had nothing else to really do in her cell. She could take a few steps in her chains, and could almost comfortably lie down as long as she was pressed up against the wall, considering that she was lying on a cold hard stone floor. It could have been warmed by her energy, but unfortunately the cuffs stopped any large amount of energy to be used. Whenever she tried, they sucked up the energy and then replaced it back into her stores. Humane, but incredibly annoying. She also could keep up her strength by doing pushups and other exercises. But other then those and the occasional meal, she was pretty bored.

"Hello prisoner. Ready for your first meal of the day?" She rolled her eyes. He was back.

"Oh yes, tasteless gruel day in and day out just makes my day. Oh, and I have a name you know. You could try using it. It's not even very hard. Here, I'll help you. Skava. Ska- come on, say it with me. S-K-A-V-A. Two syllables, not hard. And all the A's are short, that's simple enough! Come on, I know you can do it." He leered at her behind the bars.

"Do not try my patience, prisoner."

"Oh, but it's just so much fun." She found herself grinning, further annoying the ogre outside the bars. He simply snorted and threw her bowl of food (if, indeed, it could be called that) and it skidded on the floor besides hitting her on the calf. She immediately howled in mock pain and grabbed her leg.

"You've killed me! It will have to be amputated! Ooo, the inhumanity! I'll never recover!" As she was massaging her leg, she suddenly fought to keep a straight face and not start laughing maniacally. The guard just grunted in annoyance and walked away. As soon as she was sure that he had indeed left, she fought to keep a manic grin spreading across her face as she slipped a hand into the cuff oh her pant leg, and confirmed what she had hoped. They had missed her leg knives! She had become so used to carrying them that she had failed to notice that they should be gone. They were on the inside of calf, strapped by a thin piece of demon hide. She kept them on the inside as people tended to just pat down the outside of someone's leg when checking for weapons and it appeared that it had worked. She grinned at this new development.

'So…now I won't be defenseless when I get out of here. Speaking of which, time to work on these cuffs some more.' She had been slowly working out the mechanisms of the cuffs in the off hours when she was left completely alone. She couldn't get very far at any one time, but she had the talent of "book marking" where she had left off, making it much easier to break through locks. At the moment she has gotten off the first two layers of protection seals and clicked open the first tumblers on each of her wrist and feet cuffs. She was concentrating her mind on the protection seals and was beginning to peel off the third layer. It was like fitting keys into a lock, it had to be the right kind of signal for it to click open. She had opened the first two of the locks for that level when she suddenly stopped. She could feel something there, something that carried a telepathic force.

.:Who's there?:. She called silently. She heard nothing.

'Hmm, maybe it was just my imagination.' She focused back on getting the seals off. There were only five total, and she was working faster now on the third one. And after the seals were off, it wouldn't be hard at all to get the mechanics of the locks to open for her. She could be out in a week, if she was careful. Suddenly she felt a slight mental penetration as a foreign mind began to bend her signal. She immediately fought back and the force retreated, but returned, this time not in her mind but in the lock, showing a variation of the signal that she was giving. The next lock of the seal clicked open.

.:Who are you, and why are you helping me?:. She had to admit, she was scared. Who could it be that knew the locks well enough to know the signals? She suspected a trap. However the force came into her mind again, this time giving an emotion of _"I don't like you but I'm not going to hurt you so just stop fighting me and I'll get you out."_ She decided to let it for the time being. If it was indeed a trap, she could just kill the offender. With the help of the other mind the rest of the locks on the level quickly clicked open. Then the mind was simply gone before she could even say anything.

'Who are you?'

AAAAA

"Wha-? Who? Oh." She woke up from a disorienting sleep groggy and slightly confused. The helper was back.

.:Hello again. Come to help me with my imprisonment?:. Still she felt no response, but she didn't expect anything different. If it spoke, she could match the voice to a suspect if she was caught again and questioned. This time, when she felt the mind come into her own, she let it with no trouble, and almost immediately the first lock of the fourth layer clicked open. As they were working on the others, it became almost an automatic function, leaving her with some mind power left to wander. She began to inspect the mind that was helping her, trying to get a feel for who it was. It seemed to sense this, for it drew away completely.

.:All right, I'm sorry. I get it; you don't want me to know you. Fine. But please, can you still help me? I need your help to get out of here:. She talked on and on for almost an hour, before finally admitting to herself that the helper was gone.

"Damn it, Skava! You're an idiot!" Berating herself constantly, she began to work on the lock alone, slowly peeling the locks off one by one. Luckily the fourth layer had almost been completed before, so she didn't have much left to do. She sighed with relief when the layer was finished. Then she sat back and waited for her food.

AAAAA

A week had passed since she had last felt the presence of the helper. Nothing of interest had happened, and she'd been working on the last layer a lot slower now that she didn't have any help with it. She only had three of the ten locks open, and she was sick of the whole thing. She wanted out of the damn cell and she was getting impatient. She started to work on the next lock. It seemed to be easier then the others though she wasn't sure of it. She guessed that she was getting better at figuring out the right signals. She disarmed that one and moved onto the next. Now she was sure of it. It was going a lot quicker then she thought it should be. She stopped her progress for a second to test, and felt it stop just a split second to late. She grinned. The helper was back.

.:Thank you:. She then went back to peeling off the last layer, helped along by her unknown benefactor. She laughed out loud when she felt the last seal give way then quickly reached into her shoe and drew out her set of lock picks that they had also missed. She quickly fitted them and felt the rest of the tumblers click into place. She sighed with relief at the feeling of the cuffs sliding off her sore wrists and ankles. She rubbed them briefly and quickly reached into her pant leg, drawing out the knives that they had missed in their inspection. She quickly jogged over to door and glared at it for a second before simply wrenching off two of the bars and stepping through to the other side of the doorway.

"Well now, let's see where they keep the armory."

A/N: That was a really fun chapter to write. Whoo! Go Skava! And the mysterious benefactor, but you know that Skava's the cooler one. XD. Cyber brownie points go to anyone who figures out who helped her.

Review Responses:

sausage: Thanks for the compliment, that goes for both of the reviews. I like hearing I make people laugh, and thanks for saying Skava has a cool personality. I tried to make her as likable as possible.


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